WATER FEBRUARY 2014
30
Workshop Report
NCEDA SPONSORED
INTERNATIONAL
DESALINATION
WORKSHOP
Reported by Diane Wiesner, Science Plus
The National Centre of Excellence in Desalination Australia
(NCEDA), in collaboration with the Gwangju Institute of Science
and Technology (GIST), Republic of Korea, held an International
Desalination Workshop (IDW6) at the Woodward Conference Centre,
University of Melbourne on 28 and 29 November 2013. Professor
David Furukawa, Chief Scienti c Of cer, and Neil Palmer, CEO of
NCEDA, delivered a wide-ranging program, which not only covered
international research but also showcased the project ndings from
NCEDA grant recipients.
KEYNOTE ADDRESS
The Hon John Brumby opened the workshop and delivered the
keynote address on 'The Victorian Desalination Plant -- Securing
Victoria's Future', addressing reasons and nancing behind the
decision to build the plant in 2007.
At the peak of an extended drought, amid concerns about
supply to Melbourne (population ~ 4million) from depleted surface
storages, the Victorian Government's commitment to an SWRO
Desalination Plant at Wonthaggi (capacity 444,000m3/day) was
the largest public private partnership entered into anywhere in
the world. While the extended drought was the trigger for the
investment in building modern water infrastructure for the state,
something that Mr Brumby's government had identi ed as well
overdue, completion of the Victorian Desalination Plant (VDP) has
assured security of supply for the state and achieved plaudits for
its focus on environmental gains (such as renewable energy offset
to power use, use of a 'green roof' for VDP, brine discharge
and underground power supply).
A single Public Private Partnership (PPP) package was negotiated
for the whole project, a signi cant milestone for PPPs given the
dif cult economic conditions at the time [the height of the GFC],
especially given the scale and complexity of the project. Use of
a PPP transferred 100% nancing risk to the private sector, with
review and restructure targeted for September 2014, at which time
the impact of the GFC on the marginal cost of money should have
reduced the extent of the debt burden.
After a comprehensive tender process, the VDP contract was
awarded to the AquaSure consortium -- Suez Environnement,
Macquarie Capital and Thiess -- to nance, build, maintain
and operate the project for 30 years. AquaSure's xed price for
construction of the project came in at A$3.5 billion. Additional
costs were associated with transporting water 85km to the city of
Melbourne and other peripherals.
The nancing package was restructured in October 2013 by
the Liberal Coalition Government that replaced the Brumby regime.
With construction complete, agreeing to early re nancing and
resolving legal claims has achieved a better risk pro le for the
VDP. In turn, this means signi cantly lower nancing charges,
which could be passed on to reduce the cost of water.
INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS
An impressive panel of desalination academic and industry speakers
from around the globe included Professor Tony Fane from
Singapore Membrane Technology Centre, Professors Sang Lee,
Dae Rook Yang, Joon Kim and Heechui Choi from the Republic of
Korea, and Kevin Price representing the US Bureau of Reclamation.
Professor In S Kim (Republic of Korea) outlined research being
pursued by himself and colleagues at GIST. The environmental
impacts of SWRO brine discharges and improvements in energy
consumption rates in desalination processes are key features of
their research. Two hybrid desalination plant projects, an FO-RO
(forward osmosis -- reverse osmosis) hybrid and MD-PRO (membrane
distillation -- pressure-
retarded osmosis)
hybrid systems,
have been tasked
with resolving
these challenges.
Mr Mohammed El
Ramahi from Masdar
Clean Energy detailed
Masdar's new initiative
to develop and
demonstrate advanced
and innovative
energy-ef cient
seawater desalination
technologies suitable
to be powered by
renewable sources.
The initiative
consists of two phases:
Phase 1, the Piloting
Phase (2013--2016)
takes the latest
desalination
technologies not
Australian and international delegates at the NCEDA Workshop. Centre front: Ms Miriam Balaban, anked
at left by Prof In S Kim and at right by Prof David Furukawa. Prof Jan Schippers is third row from rear at left.